Claire Black wants people to know how good her friend, Holl Prince, is at martial arts. So she sat down, wrote a report and sent it to The Local Answer.

This is her story:

Every couple of months, the World United Martial Arts federation (WUMA) holds events in Worcester in which martial artists from across England and the UK can compete with like-minded warriors from other martial arts clubs.

There are two sections – one involves contact sparring with a person of similar weight and experience (time spent training), and the other involves performing choreographed sequences of fighting moves, known in Japanese arts as katas, in front of a panel of judges.

Mid-May saw WUMA’s ‘Battle of Britain’ event and competing for the very first time was Holl Prince from Cheltenham.

Holl said: “I felt quite nervous before the event – not knowing how many people I was going to be up against, or whether I’d be able to perform well under pressure.”

But with her mind made up and showing plenty of determination, Holl entered the Weapons category of the kata section, demonstrating a Shaolin Fan form. Despite competing against several others who already had previous competition experience, Holl impressed the judges, and came third.

Holl felt proud of her achievement, saying: “I feel I performed pretty well. Knowing there were people watching, and having the pressure of competing against others, I did alright for my first time!”

Holl, currently a brown-belt student who has been a studying Traditional Kung Fu at the Loong Mang Pai club in Cheltenham for the past five years, said for her it was more about self-development than winning a trophy.

“Traditional Kung Fu is more an art than a competitive sport, but I saw this as an opportunity to challenge myself and push myself out of my own comfort zones,” she said. “If you have a goal, set your mind to it and you can achieve anything!”

Holl’s plans to better herself will continue over the coming months, as she said she intends to enter the National Championships towards the end of the year. Good luck, Holl!